# Is Edward Snowden just a Russian spy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-edward-snowden-just-a-russian-spy/688133>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 10, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-edward-snowden-just-a-russian-spy/688133 "2014-05-10T17:22:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 31

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**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-edward-snowden-just-a-russian-spy/688133/31 "2014-05-11T15:46:08Z")

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> [@foolsguinea](#):
>
> A war with China would be suicidal.
> 
> Maybe “ally” is too strong a word. If you prefer, we can call China our largest “trading partner,” but they are mostly an uneasy “friend.”

Suicidal for China,perhaps.  
It’s military is 25-30 years behind that of the US and it has no allies or nearby bases to launch pre-emotive strikes against the US. Any war started by China would result in yet another humiliating defeat for the nation.

Back to the subject at hand: Snowden’s value as a spy was diminished when he contacted the media,if he indeed was a spy. Had simply slipped into Russia quietly,he could have and would have done far greater damage to the NSA as there would be no telling what information that he had.

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